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Epica
'Epica '''is a British–Dutch symphonic metal band, formed in Reuver, Netherlands in 2002 and comrises of lead vocalist Simone Simons, lead guitartist James Harrison, rhythm guitarist Andrew Collins, pianist Coen Janssen, bassists Jake Wyss and drummer Ariën van Weesenbeek. The band started as Harrison, Collins and Wyss had taken a gap year to travel Europe together and met Simons in the Netherlands and heard her sing and as they grew closer to Simons they decided to mix her operatic voice with their love of metal. They are known for their symphonic sound and the use of female vocals and male growls, performed by Simone Simons and James Harrison respectively. All six members participate in composing their songs, whilst their lyrics are primarily written by Simons and Harrison. Their songs largely deal with philosophical topics, including science, religion, and world events. Alongside the success of Epica British band members Collins, Harrison and Wyss have a three piece side project Abraxas which has been equally as successful but they have maintained that their main focus is on Epica. To date all seven of their albums have charted in the Top 10 in the Netherlands and USA and at number one in the UK. "Storm the Sorrow" from their fifth studio album ''Requiem for the Indifferent ''charted at number one in the UK becoming only the second metal song in history to top the UK charts and the first since Iron Maiden's "Bring Your Daughter...to the Slaughter" achieved it in 1991. There success in the US has led to the group being nominated for 48 Grammy Awards, the eighth most nominations in history which led to 34 wins which is a record. The band won an Academy Award in 2006 for Best Original Song for "Solitary Ground" the only nomination for Dutch production ''Joyride. Discography : Main article: Epica discography *''The Phantom Agony'' (2003) *''Consign to Oblivion'' (2005) *''The Divine Conspiracy'' (2007) *''Design Your Universe'' (2009) *''Requiem for the Indifferent'' (2012) *''The Quantum Enigma'' (2014) *''The Holographic Principle'' (2016) Members :Main article: List of Epica members Current *Andrew Collins – rhythm guitar (2002–present) *James Harrison – lead guitar, growls/screams (2002–present) *Coen Janssen – keyboards, synthesizer, piano (2002–present) *Simone Simons – lead vocals (2002–present) *Ariën van Weesenbeek – drums, spoken words, growls (2007–present) *Jake Wyss – bass, backing vocals (2002–present) Former *Helena Iren Michaelsen – lead vocals (2002) *Iwan Hendrikx – drums (2002) *Dennis Leeflang – drums (2002) *Jeroen Simons – drums (2002–2006; live member 2013) *Yves Huts – bass (live member 2013) *Ad Sluijter – guitars (live member 2013) *Koen Herfst – drums (touring member 2007) *Amanda Somerville – vocals (touring member 2008), backing vocals (2002–2012) *Oliver Palotai – keyboards (touring member 2014) Timeline TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:2002 ScaleMinor = increment:2 start:2003 Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:lguitar value:green legend:Lead_guitar id:rguitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:keyboard value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:touring value:yellow legend:Touring_member id:bvocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:albums value:black legend:Studio_Releases LineData = at:05/06/2003 color:black layer:back at:21/04/2005 color:black layer:back at:22/08/2007 color:black layer:back at:16/10/2009 color:black layer:back at:09/03/2012 color:black layer:back at:02/05/2014 color:black layer:back at:30/09/2016 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Helena text:"Helena Iren Michaelsen" bar:Simone text:"Simone Simons" bar:Andrew text:"Andrew Collins" bar:James text:"James Harrison bar:Coen text:"Coen Janssen" bar:Jake text:"Jake Wyss" bar:Iwan text:"Iwan Hendrikx" bar:Dennis text:"Dennis Leeflang" bar:Jeroen text:"Jeroen Simons" bar:Amanda text:"Amanda Somerville" bar:Arien text:"Ariën van Weesenbeek" bar:Koen text:"Koen Herfst" bar:Ad text:"Ad Sluijter" bar:Yves text:"Yves Huts" bar:Oliver text:"Oliver Palotai" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Helena from:start till:01/06/2002 color:vocals bar:Simone from:01/06/2002 till:end color:vocals bar:Andrew from:start till:end color:rguitar bar:James from:start till:end color:lguitar bar:James from:start till:end color:bvocals width:3 bar:Coen from:start till:end color:keyboard bar:Jake from:start till:end color:bass bar:Jake from:start till:end color:bvocals width:3 bar:Iwan from:start till:01/04/2002 color:drums bar:Dennis from:01/04/2002 till:01/10/2002 color:drums bar:Jeroen from:01/10/2002 till:01/05/2006 color:drums bar:Jeroen from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:touring bar:Amanda from:start till:09/03/2012 color:bvocals bar:Arien from:01/05/2006 till:end color:drums bar:Arien from:01/05/2006 till:end color:bvocals width:3 bar:Koen from:01/09/2007 till:31/12/2007 color:touring bar:Ad from:01/01/2013 till:14/06/2013 color:touring bar:Yves from:01/01/2013 till:31/12/2013 color:touring bar:Oliver from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:touring }}